St Mary's College 7 St Gerard's 3
St Mary's College progressed to the second round of the Leinster Senior Cup in a nail-biting encounter in Lakelands yesterday afternoon.
Leading by four points at the break, St Mary’s were pinned in their own half in a tense final quarter as their defence was almost stretched to breaking point at times.
However they held their opponents at bay, denying them on the line twice and maintaining their narrow lead until the final whistle.
St Gerard’s had enjoyed the better of the early exchanges in the opening half but a missed penalty from outhalf Tommy Whittle was all they had to show for their dominance.
Whittle eventually got them off the mark with a penalty in the 21st minute but that score seemed to rouse the favourites who began to exert their control in the second quarter.
The power of St Mary’s front row eventually paid dividends five minutes before the end of normal time in the first half when loose-head prop Mick Fitzgerald benefited from a terrific maul to push over for the game’s decisive score.
John Delaney added the extras from the conversion to leave his side 7-3 ahead at the interval. That was the way it was to remain despite St Gerard's gallant bid to snatch victory in a bruising finale.
ST MARY'S COLLEGE: T Kennedy, M Oppermann, D Matthews; B Hoey, S McCahill, J Duffy, J Delaney; M Fitzgerald, J Finnegan, C Whelan, C Corcoran, H Diepman, N Curran, G Kenny, T Lynch (capt). Replacements: P Fogarty for Lynch (ht), M Fogarty for Delany (46), M Talbot for Oppermann (65).
ST GERARD'S: M Prendergast, A Simmonds, C Callan, R Toal Lennon, A Lynch, T Whittle, P Keally; N Byrne, J Ryan (capt), T Kenna, B Fitzpatrick, C Doyle, D King, D Smyth, C Kenny. Replacements: J McGuire for Doyle (37), K McCarthy for Kelly (53).
